Pink the Rink turned to black and blue as the Adrian College men's hockey team laid a 6-1 beating on the Lake Forest Foresters to move a step closer to clinching its sixth straight Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title. This weekend is Pink the Rink for breast cancer awareness, and Adrian is wearing special pink jerseys.

Justin Basso had a pair of goals in the penalty-filled game with a lot of hitting and several scrums resulting in penalties. Shaquille Merasty got the scoring started early as he rammed home an unassisted goal 34 seconds into the game. That was the 17th goal of the season for the Bulldogs' leading scorer.

Adrian peppered Lake Forest goalie Brendan Sullivan with 19 shots in the first period and 44 for the game. Bulldog coach Ron Fogarty said Sullivan kept the score as close as it was.

"He played well. We played a very strong game, especially in the third period," Fogarty said.

The first two minutes of the game were played entirely in the Lake Forest end of the ice as Adrian controlled the play and the puck. Basso got his first goal just past the midway point of the first period, and Adrian went to the dressing room up 2-0.

The second period saw both teams tighten up the defense, step up the hitting and pile up the penalty minutes. Jordan Bruce cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal at 14:55 as he cruised in on Adrian goalie Scott Shackell, took a pass from Curran Forgue and jammed it in.

About two minutes later, Ryan Lowe took a pass from Shawn Courtney on a breakaway and restored the two-goal lead for Adrian. The lead was 3-1, and Lake Forest showed signs of getting back into the contest.

Just before the end of the period, Basso was stopped on a shot close in, and the teams began pushing each other behind the net with the threat of a brawl. However, the officials restored order.

The chippiness carried over into the third period with seven more penalties called, but only the Bulldogs were able to take advantage, scoring three goals. Josh Ranalli tallied his 11th goal at the 4:10 mark to put Adrian into a 4-1 lead and then power-play goals from Basso, his fifth goal of the season, and Josh Cousineau, his seventh, closed out the scoring.

Adrian can clinch its sixth straight MCHA title with a win today in a 3 p.m. contest with Lake Forest. Fogarty said the Bulldogs will not take the regular-season title for granted.

"That's why we come here. You want to put up the banner every season you play," he said.

The Bulldogs play at Concordia (Wis.) Feb. 8 and 9 and close out the regular season Feb. 15 and 16 when Finlandia comes in for a visit. The first round of the MCHA playoffs will be Feb. 22-24 with Adrian hosting the Harris Cup Four on March 2 and 3 at the Arrington Ice Arena.